Stay?

[Aralitia]

I never liked this song until about a year ago. Anyone else like it? What our your interpretations of it?

Aralitia

 

[Salome]

a fan who thinks her idol can make all her troubles go away

 

[U2andPolitix]

its a great song especially live. my interpretation...hmmm...i agree with salome.

 

[meital]

stay is a song about a man who died and came back to earth as an angel
he meets someone he knew but the one he meets can't see him or hear him.
the angel wants to stay but he can't...

we can understand thst this song is about an angel through these lines:

...you say when he hits you , you don't mind
because when he hurts you, you feel alive
is that what it is?

(-->the angel wants to feel that is why he doesn't mind if someone hits him )

And if you look, you look through me
And if you talk, it's not to me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing

(-->the angel meets someone he knew but he can't contact him
because this person can't see , hear or feel him...)

if i could stay...then the night would give you up
stay, and the day would keep its thrust
stay, and the night would be enough

(-->the angel wants to stay but he can't...)

.....

And if you listen I can't call
And if you jump, you just might fall
And if you shout, I'll only hear you

(--> the angel can't help the person he knew by calling him when he need help, catch him when he fall or come to help him when he shout
he can't help him because he can't stay)

.......

Three o'clock in the morning
It's quiet and there's no one around
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel runs to ground

Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel Hits the ground

(--> the last lines in the song show us that it's about an angel who came back to earth.
the angel runs to a ground as he fall from the sky.)

this is also what the film is about.

i think this is a sad and beautiful song!!!!!!
it always reminds me a friend of mine who was like a brother to me but he died and i miss him so much...

 

[KateInKorea]

It might be very cliche, but whenever I hear this song, I think of a secret love triangle, where it's between a girl and two guys. The girl is in this poisonous relationship with a man, and her friend, another guy is in love with her but for whatever reason, can't reveal his true feelings to her. The part about the angel is about the girl, the perfect girl who is all messed up, maybe she reaches her breaking point at the end of the song, never knowing her friend was truly in love with her.

 

[~*Buffalo*~]

Stay isn't one of my favourite U2 songs. I find it a bit vague - too vague in fact - and I can't really figure it out. But I like all the explanations given so far! I suppose it could mean a lot of different things ... sorry, Aralitia, this doesn't really answer your question!

 

[FallingStar]

It's about a woman who is abused by her husband, IMO. The woman loves him even if he hits her because she won't feel the hitting, but she knows it is not what she wanted all along.

 

[dsmith2904]

Although the song is truly about an angel falling in love with a woman (it's from the movie "Stay" by Wim Wenders, sort of the precursor to "City of Angels" with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan), when I hear it I think it's about any relationship where one person is in trouble and the other person can't help them. All those lines like "And if you look, you look through me" really enforce that for me, no matter what you say or do this person is on this destructive path and you just have to sit there and watch it happen. Then all the choruses of, "If I could stay" is just that feeling that somehow you can fix it, fix them, never wanting to let go of that thought that you could be someone's savior.

"Stay" is a really beautiful song and probably my favorite from U2, especially live.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I'm liking the interpretations here, people. .

Anywho, I've always seen this song as similar to what KateInKorea said-it being about a girl who's in a very nasty relationship, and there's another guy who loves her, and who's friends with her, and who may have kissed her a couple of times or something, but she's still so broken from her nasty relationship-she spaces out, she still thinks the abusive guy she's with loves her, and it frustrates him, because he'll be the one willing to give her what the other guy can't, he wants her to be with him. And with the lines about going places, and the list of cities, that to me symbolizes the fact that this guy who loves her will be willing to take her anywhere, take her as far away as possible from all the pain and suffering she's experienced.

And the last couple lines, the ones referring to the angel hitting the ground and stuff...that to me is the guy who loves her watching her destroy herself-they did have some time together, and the girl feels horrible about it, is scared of what her cruel boyfriend or husband will say or do, and so she goes kinda crazy. So from that perspective, it's not a really happy ending to a song. .

Even so, this is one of my absolute favorite songs. I really like the way it's sung, I like the concept of the video, I like the lyrics...just all around a great song, in my opinion.

Angela

 

[VampiressDarie]

stay is one of my fav U2 songs of all time. I've seen it as just a girl falling apart mentally, whether it's from evil guys, just a breakdown

"a vampire, or a victim, it depends on who's around"

whol song makes me cry sometimes.